Altruism in the OC

I have come to grips with the fact that I’m a brown nosing do-gooder, which actually isn’t how I started out. Just ask the School Bus driver in the 7th Grade who wrote me up for opening the Emergency Exit on the bus and letting all the kids out. Thankfully, I’ve made a turn for the better and met some other do-gooders along the way! Take my friend Krista, another BEAUTIFUL girl who donates her time to animal shelters. Krista is acting as a "Doggy Social Worker" right now and trying to find Clifford a home! Read this heartbreaking story and if you’re interested in taking him home to be your own please message Krista Palmer.From Krista:Clifford was brought to OC Shelter after being hit by a car. He was 15 lbs. And a year old. The vet said he clearly escaped from his owners "or a dog fighting ring". He was starved and beaten pretty bad. California bully crew paid for the medical expenses, and i am currently his foster mom. He has put on quite a bit of weight since I've gotten him. The vet says he won't ever make it over 40lbs. He is VERY PETITE. Clifford is incredibly submissive, you have to be firm but gentle. He loves to kiss you. If you lose your temper he runs away and hides.... It takes a while but he comes back around. Hes ok with other dogs but he is VERY scared. Once he trusts you he's your best friend. It only takes an hour or two. He knows all the basic commands including paw which means shake. He is completely potty trained! I want someone to love this dog as much as he is going to love them! He is incredibly smart and has a positive energy surrounding him. He LOVES WALKS! he's amazing on a leash. After a walk he wants to take a nap or cuddle. I'd be willing to do a trial if someone is unsure. I want him to be loved and taken care of. IF ANYONE IS INTERESTED, PLEASE LET ME KNOW AND I'LL GIVE YOU CONTACT INFO FOR THE FOSTER PARENT :)

Some of Rewrite Beautiful's dearest friend's are ever/after, a premium lifestyle clothing brand that donates 25% of the cost of your item to the cause of your choice. Choose a cause. Change the Story. Currently ever/after is devoted to using 25% of their profits to changing children's lives through three charities and their kindness has paid off because they are now being carried by Barneys New York ! Such a milestone for both companies! We love how ever/after uses Creativity, Kindness and Strength in all aspects of their business and we love that Barney's New York recognizes what a outstanding brand ever/after is and will be sharing them with all of their patrons!

Thank you to everyone who came out to support Rewrite Beautiful's 1st Annual Art Show : TELEIOS . For those who missed it, here is a little recap of the BEAUTY of the night....

Everyone was welcomed to CHANGE how they see beauty in themselves and others through viewing the art that was created with the Rewrite Beautiful Vision in mind: "Girls and women are beautiful for their ACTIONS of Creativity, Kindness and Strength."

People were asked to go through the gallery and ask themselves 4 Questions:

1.) Pick an element of the art work that you like most and draw it on your square

2.) Think of a woman that has qualities that are beautiful write down those qualities on your square

3.) If you could choose one quality that the media would consider beautiful what would it be?

4.) What quality makes you beautiful?

Check out how many people responded to the artwork from TELEIOS!

We love reading their answers...

So many BEAUTIFUL artists from Orange County, California participated in creating art work for the show. Thank you!

I like cops. Their brave and courageous peeps! In times of danger and damsels in distress they help when everyone else is wiggin' out. But, when I see them giving the local skateboarding teens a hassle it makes me want to pay the local barber to put the words “Kick Me!’ into their buzz cut. I mean for 1.) Skateboarders aren’t doing drugs, drinking alcohol or vandalizing anything 2.) They are not killing brain cells and souls by playing video games and looking at porn online 3.) They are getting adequate exercise and plenty of Vitamin D from the sun. I know some people over the age of 30 who can't compete with those numbers. I think that if anything the city should host an annual parade saluting all of the local skateboarders in the area for being such upstanding teenage citizens and give us all free slurpees from the local 7 11.

As usual the city doesn’t see things my way. They see the skateboarders as a hindrance to public property and a danger to themselves. When their skateboards glide of railings, benches and ricochet off the side of curbs they cause some property damage. Never the less they cause a lot of trips to the ER with their risky and talented aerodynamic thrills. So now, anyone who resembles a skateboarder in my area, meaning a teenager, skinny jeans, Vans and a hair cut that resembles the boys from the Brady Brunch are deemed hooligans. They get hassled by the cops on the street, in coffee shops and anywhere else in sight. As if wearing a pair of Vans deems you a property damaging scum bag.

I thought this typecasting by the cops in my area was messed up until a couple of weeks ago when I was visiting a friend in Downtown Los Angeles. I’m a big fan of L.A. there are amazing galleries, museums, shopping, good eats and culture. I love the feel of a big congested city and even welcome the traffic. However there are some shady parts that one needs to be aware of. So I’m driving in downtown L.A. and listening to my navigation system and driving. My brain synapses went like this…

Notice graffiti in the neighborhood…awesome!

Notice homeless people pushing carts….sad..but awesome!

Notice a homeless man playing with his “junk” on the sidewalk …. gross....but awesome!

Notice I just passed a Greyhound Bus stop…. Uh oh…I think I’m in a baaaaaaad neighborhood.

I realize my thought process and laugh at myself. I find it funny that a man fondling himself in daylight doesn’t alarm me but a Greyhound bus stop does? I’ve rode a Greyhound bus in my past so I can say that one trip on it is an “education” in and of itself. But, I then thought about who rides Greyhound busses. In my experience it is largely ethnic minorities. I start to wonder how the symbol of a Greyhound bus makes me assume things about it's occupants. I wonder if maybe my assumptions about people who ride Greyhound buses are like the assumptions of the cops in my neighborhood around skateboarders? Maybe I’m a little bit (or a lot) like the cops in my neighborhood? I wonder if sometimes when I'm not even aware of it I just lump people together and assume I know everything about them without getting to know them first?

I hate to say it, but it is very true that in the past it has made me uncomfortable to be around people who are poor, who don’t speak my language, who have different intrerests and come from a very different walk of life, who like different music and styles of clothes. I know that at times these differences are challenging to relate to and sometimes I would simply rather not deal with them. But, then I have to ask myself, "Are these the actions of a BEAUTIFUL person? Of a KIND person?"

I think being kind isn’t just being kind to yourself and people you love, sometimes it’s being kind to people who are different. People who make you uncomfortable and maybe even annoy you. It could be someone who is racially different, religiously different, sexually orientated differently or maybe even alot younger or alot older.

You don’t have to start being best friends with these people, but I would suggest that you start to ask yourself some questions:

1.) What makes me uncomfortable about people who are different?

2.) What would it be like if they thought of me the way I thought of them?

*Note - This is a 2 part series! Double the awesomeness right? Rewrite Beautiful worked with Faith Worship Community Church in Costa Mesa (BTW: they are an amazing bunch of peeps) and did this Street Art project with their youth group. Rewrite Strong is what we did with the boys. Tomorrow we will show you the Rewrite Beautiful piece with did with the ladies. So stay tuned and enjoy!

How do you communicate to a boy that he is strong outside of his abs, height and muscles? Funny you ask, cause I have the answer!...You bring Rewrite Strong to him and ask him, "What makes you strong?"

Rewrite Beautifulgot the opportunity to work with Faith Worship Community Church earlier this month. We originally planned to just do Rewrite Beautifuland have the boys help the girls out with the construction of their own Rewrite BeautifulStreet Art pieces but God had a better plan! The awesome Roger Balko of Dedo Frame was totally on board to help cut and construct the girl and boy Street Art pieces I envisioned (and that you see here) and voila... a few cuts, splinters and throwing down the backseat of my Corolla and we have Rewrite Strong up in action!

Rewrite Strong couldn't have happened without Roger, the help of the BEAUTIFUL Krista Palmer who is the Youth Leader with Faith Worship Community Church and Wes who is another awesome leader there. Wes led the boys through the Rewrite Stronglesson.... only a tad different from Rewrite Beautiful... instead of affirming eachother of what they see in the other (the way Rewrite Beautifuldoes) the boys instead wrote down what they have heard others tell them is STRONG about them. Then they buddied up with another boy and told them their list and asked which statement suited them best.

The outcome... AMAZING! The boys were hyper to Rewrite Strong and actually took longer than the girls because they were so detailed! Check out their amazing Street Art pieces below...

*If you would like to take a closer look at this piece of Rewrite Strong Street Art you are in luck! It is currently being exhibited at:

Hello Beautiful! So after the vision for Rewrite Beautiful came to me I emailed a few successful people I knew in the non-profit world and asked if I could get some coffee with them. I wanted their wisdom, their advice and their experience on how to make Rewrite Beautiful into what God intended it to be. The very beautiful, faithful and talented Laura Roebuck of International Princess Project told me something that stuck with me, “Pray for a team to do this with Irvina. You can’t do this alone. You need a strong foundation of people who support you and are just as passionate about the end goal: Stopping Eating Disorders so girls can be the women they were created to be.”

All that to say, we’re still building our foundation here at Rewrite Beautiful. Right now we’re like a newborn baby just learning to distinguish between all the beautiful colors in the world, but you guys want us to be a teenager with the strength to go skateboard across country and go do some gnarly street art in every state on the way to New York! I love your visions! I truly wish we could do that (even though I always fall flat on my booty when I skateboard and take a few scars home) but these situations are why we have VALUES. I have to follow the Rewrite Beautiful values… one of them being… HONESTY…. And in all HONESTY… at this point Rewrite Beautiful isn’t financially or physically capable to carry the load of all the beautiful visions everyone emails, texts and facebooks me to do….. Infants don’t even know how to text! They’re so lucky ;) We are still growing, but we will get there. I have faith that we will.

In the meantime, there are people (or Gypsies I might say) who have taken it upon themselves to get Rewrite Beautiful out in the world. The Gypsy Snipers is a book club I belong to. The leader of our group, the beautiful Jamie took me to tea one day and said, “I want our book club to help Rewrite Beautiful…. I have an idea.” Her idea was that each girl in our book club of about 14 + girls would draw numbers from a hat. The girls with matching numbers would go to coffee, lunch or on a walk together and get to know the things that make the other BEAUTIFUL… then the girls would go home and do a piece of Rewrite Beautiful Street Art for the other and put it in public. This was also a great way for all the girls to get to know eachother.... having been together for over a year there were still pockets of girls who hadn't gotten the chance to connect with others on a deeper level.

The Gypsies honored their word and there is now Rewrite Beautiful Street Art in the Newport Beach Back Bay, Maui and the Bay Area. My hope in this post is that all of you that care about Rewrite Beautiful would gather a group together and see how you too can CHANGE HOW GIRLS SEE BEAUTY IN THEMSELVES on a local level. I would also ask that if you are a believer in God or a power greater than yourself that you pray for a team to come along side me and help build Rewrite Beautiful up.

My own life experiences have sculpted me into a “Solo Act” if you will. A lot of the time I feel I can do life on my own and I’m better off that way. Life and Rewrite Beautiful have taught me huge lessons that though taking initiative and being strong are BEAUTIFUL aspects of me I need people who are equally passionate about the same things I am passionate about to do this deal with me.

I’d like to thank the Gypsy Snipers for “doing the deal” for getting out there, laying the foundation and being a part of my "team." But, mostly for sharing their abundance of love with me. The Gypsy Snipers aren’t simply a book club full of deep conversation, wine, cheese and the occasional Alta gossip… (Though those things are fabulous in small doses ;) )...To me the Gypsy Snipers are a group of women who see me for the good, the bad and the complicated….they rub my back, they dry my tears and they look me in the eye and say, “I love you…. How can I help?” These women inspire me to be the BEAUTIFUL woman I was created to be… I hope they do the same for you.

I have always found it interesting the people I choose to sip roasted coffee beans with… they are always interesting, creative and know how to push my latte buttons. Which usually turns into some great blogs; so for that sake I think I’ll keep them around ;)

So the other day a friend says to me, “Ya know Irvina, some people just aren’t beautiful. They aren’t physically beautiful or even internally beautiful. There are people who are simply cruel and ugly. What are you going to do when you go into a school and ask the kids to Rewrite Beautiful for the girl who bullies everyone and constantly causes chaos and pain?”

I think this is a great question. I think the answer comes down to where we teach kids BEAUTY comes from… as in WHO created beauty?

Our very first value here at Rewrite Beautiful is: ARTISTRY: We believe every girl is a priceless piece of artwork created for a purpose. (not just the pretty ones who volunteer, not the cute ones who are sassy and funny, but also the ones who are angry, vulgar and have gnarly eating disorders that they are active in.)

Now, that may sound good on paper, but I won’t lie sometimes people are rude, hurtful, inconsiderate and I personally would rather not deal with them. When I get frustrated and emotional I have to go back to what I believe is true: That EVERY girl is priceless piece of art and created for a purpose. (Thank God for the frontal lobe!)

This concept works for me because I too am a creator. I’m an artist, writer and founder. From the time I was a little girl I have loved to create things. I had some great parents who encouraged the unique things I made even if it meant taste testing a cake that had the consistency of a cookie, allowing me to freehand paint on the furniture or nearly having a heart attack when I created an “elevator” with a sheet and some rope and tried to lower my little sister from the second floor of our house to the ground floor. I was definitely scolded a lot as a kid, but not for my creativity. To this day there is a delight and a sense of pride that I can sense from my family over the things I create. (Even when I write articles about the matters of sex, love and God that make them sweat.) I would imagine as parents they might think, “She’s precious…a little crazy, but precious…. and I think she’s onto something here… lets see where it goes.”

I try to look at ALL people (even the mean ones) with the idea that “Someone (who I think is God) created this person for a purpose… in fact… a BEAUTIFUL purpose… knowing that I try to think, “Maybe God’s on to something here…let’s see where it goes.” I’ll tell you as an artist, I create things out of love. I want to share them. They may not always be pretty or even good, but it’s out of my love for my friends and family that I make them and choose to share them. I think if I apply this thought of creativity to people than yes, they can ALL be created BEAUTIFUL. Yes, they may be cruel at times, but are they being truly cruel or are they just being STRONG and protecting themselves from getting hurt? They may be dishonest and steal things; does that make them a “bad person” or are they maybe a person with DREAMS and aspirations that are perhaps stifled by their current situation. They may be cold, distant and angry, does that make them an “ugly person” or maybe just a SENSITIVE person who has been wounded deeply.

I think that if we went into a school and met a kid who maybe didn’t “act” beautiful or “appear” beautiful that we could find their beauty. We could point it out to them and I think it perhaps could help them see themselves as they were created: BEAUTFIUL.

What a far out concept huh? Even ugly, angry and evil people are beautiful! You think maybe I lost some brain cells with the accumulation of spray can fumes over the years? Nah! You want to know something even more far out? Tonight (or today) I was watching the meteor shower in my backyard. I’m a sucker for a shooting star! I was sitting in the dark, on the concrete in my robe waiting for something to happen…. Nothing…. Nothing… Nothing… Nothing…. I started to think about my friends and my foes. People I love and people who frustrate me (No, Obama didn’t make the list… sorry conservative peeps) I have been taught by a very wonderful and BEAUTIFUL woman I know named CT that when I am frustrated with someone I should pray for them. Pray for blessings on them of love, prosperity and peace. As I started to pray I saw a meteor shoot straight through the dark sky. It made me jump. I felt that feeling you get when you are told a really exciting secret. Kind of like when a guy tells you that he’s going to propose to your friend and he needs your help. In that very moment you accumulate all the struggle and pain your friend has been through their entire life and then see the amazing guy who is going to surprise her and make it all make sense.

I hope that as I work on Rewrite Beautiful and as you guys join in the ranks of the revolution that we see the darkness, but have the patience to see the miracles…aka the BEAUTY…. I have found in many confusing and cold circumstances that we truly are all BEAUTIFUL and created for a purpose…a purpose that is sometimes surprising!

Good morningBEAUTIFUL! It's a good thing I'm a "Sunrise" kinda girl! Cause there's no better time to put up Rewrite Beautiful Street Art up for the public to see. In between tying art in the tree in front of the Gypsy Den and clarifying with the waiters there that "technically" (proud lawyer friends?) the tree is not on Gypsy Den property therefore they don't have to regulate on my revolutionary self.... I met Jerry.

Jerry's opener was, “Hey I like your art”

I said, “Oh... thank you! What do you think when you see it?”

He said, “I think of strong women.”

I then asked, “Do you think strong equals beautiful?”

And he said, “No, I think sometimes women use their strength to hurt men and that's not beautiful. But, I have this friend she may not be beautiful on the outside, but she is the most beautiful person I have ever met.”

After hearing Jerry's opinions I asked him if it was okay if I videoed him for our blog. He agreed and here it is. I think Jerry has some very insightful and truthful perspectives on the beauty of women. It's always interesting to hear others perspectives of beauty. *Just a little FYI: There is some stuff that Jerry says like“she wasn't physically beautiful” For the record Rewrite Beautiful doesn't believe beauty is in the physical. These are Jerry's opinions and we think he's on to something!

Enjoy the conversation....and be sure to leave your comments and your opinions in the comment section below...now... “What makes a woman BEAUTIFUL?” Without further ado Jerry, from the Santa Ana Artist’s Village.

In all un-humbleness....(oh! That's a great title to a sermon/blog) In all un-humbleness I like to think of myself as a pretty well rounded gal. I think I can take on any situation and work my way to success. However, this past week I have been realizing just how much I am NOT Wonder Woman (in more ways than 12.) I think it hit home when the Rewrite Beautiful volunteers shot this picture of me cat napping on the job Saturday; as we were prepping our project for next weeks Street Art lesson. I was sent straight in to nap on an actual mattress there after.

Thank the LORD that there are people here in suburbia who care about Rewrite Beautiful and are willing to help their sisters out! We couldn't Rewrite Beautiful without all hands on deck. Thank you to the following people who have helped tremendously this past week....

Mitch Gonzalez: Mitch is an amazing artist and teacher who makes me step up my game. I was quite literally bragging to Mitch about my awesome Street Art idea using a full sized wooden girl and boy and having the kids Rewrite Beautiful on the inside of them. He so kindly put the breaks on my swivel chair said, “Easy Picasso..... lets look at this one more time.” We now have something that works a thousand times better. Gracias hermano! To see more of Mitch's artwork visit his website here: www.akaixi144.com

Thank you Mitch!

Dave Z: I walked into the wood aisle at Home Depot and I swear all the men in the aisle looked at me like, “Uh oh... Chick on deck!” (I think it was my floral bandana that threw them off.) I told one fellow about trying to cut out a 6 foot girl from a sheet of ply-wood and he took two steps back from me and ran and got Dave Z. Dave Z is a sweetheart! He totally helped me not only find the right wood and hardware, lugged all of my stuff around the store but he also helped design the structure of the art work so that it could be a moveable piece on wheels! He taught me a little wood shop and crafting skills too. I told him “You remind me of Jesus the carpenter!” and he said, “Jesus was Jewish.” And I said, “And I like Matzoh ball soup!” He looked at me as if I was strange...(I'm used to it.)

Thank you Dave Z.

Roger Balko: I met Roger at an Art Show a couple of months ago. Roger is a talented artist and the designer of Dedo Frames. When I asked Roger if he would be willing to cut and assemble our wooden pieces of Street Art he was amped and excited to help the kiddo's. Thank you Roger! Check out Dedo Frames here: www.dedoframe.com

Thank you Roger!

Keane-O! This is my neighbor Keane- O! As I run around between meetings, sitting in coffee shops brain storming, dropping off wood and praying for strength I get the pitter patter of little hands on my sliding glass door that say " Bubbles!” Keane-O reminds me exactly why we are all doing the things that we do. That it isn't about success, popularity, accolades or even fun....it's about CHANGING our world and the LIVES within it so that everyone (yes, even you) know that you too are BEAUTIFUL and will use your BEAUTIFUL talents to make this world the place it was intended to be.

Hellllllllllllo BEAUTIFUL! Happy Saturday kiddo's! I'm gonna take a step off the soap box today and introduce you to a BEAUTIFUL and BRAVE girl I know named Brooke. Brooke is what I like to call an “undercover Queen.” She is poised, classy, mellow and has an inner strength that she doesn't flash around to intimidate others, but instead quietly uses it to help her friends see their own beauty and strength. It's funny, I'm supposed to be Brooke's mentor, meaning I get excuses to go drink Chai Latte's at Alta with her, walk the beach and pet all the dogs walking by. But, more often than not I feel that Brooke teaches me more than I could have ever taught her. For instance the other day I was walking out of the doctor's office and opened a text from Brooke that said, “ It appears that as fashion models and media images of women have gotten smaller, adolescent girls have become unhappier. Today only 15% of teenage girls feels happy the ways she is. Compared to 29% just 10 years earlier. Booooooooo Society”

I laughed and said, “Sounds like you have something to say Missy! How about you blog for Rewrite Beautiful this week?” and the girl wrote up a blog in like an hour...I couldn't be prouder of my "Brookie Brookersons!" I think it takes a BRAVE person to stand up for what is right and to say what they want the world to look like even when every magazine, TV show and porn-o are saying the opposite. I hope you get a little educated on what she has to say about beauty and what you can do to change society.

You're BEAUTIFUL! - Irvina

BEAUTIFUL Society?

By: Brooke Constable

"Every society has a way of torturing its women, whether by bindingtheir feet or by sticking them into whalebone corsets. Whatcontemporary American culture has come up with is designer jeans."—Joel Yager, M.D.

I was studying for my Clinical Child Psychology final and came acrossan interesting few sentences in one of my chapters: "It appears thatas fashion models and media images of women have gotten smaller,adolescent girls have become unhappier.” Today, only 15% of teenagegirls feel happy about the way she looks compared to 29% just 10 yearsearlier.

What has changed??? Did our mothers experience less bodydissatisfaction than the young ladies today? All through history, thedominant political climate and cultural standards always have shapedthe public’s view of the ideal female body type. However, today’sculture is unique in that the media (TV, Internet, movies, and print)has a far more powerful presence than ever before.There is so much media battling us, we can use our own media and artto ‘fight back!’ We can ‘Rewrite Beautiful’ with our peers andinfluence the culture we live in. BEAUTIFUL is defined by our culture,and WE make our culture.

Recent work has used the Tripartite Influence Model (Keery, van denBerg, & Thompson, 2004; Shroff & Thompson, 2006), to propose thatpeers, parents, and media are the main sources of influencesurrounding body dissatisfaction and disturbed eating. Also, socialreinforcement theory (Thompson & Stice, 2001), suggests that thevalues and standards regarding appearance are determined andperpetuated by neighboring or proximate, peers who reinforce the thinideal promoted by the media. And yes, though correlation does notequal causation, many studies are showing high correlation with mediaexposure and perceptions of the thin ideal. Coincidence? I thinknot….

How can we battle this??? Well, I’ve dug up my old research proposalsthat looked into body dissatisfaction and social support, and found anoverwhelming number of studies that support the idea that girls withhigh levels of social support tend to experience less bodydissatisfaction. So, hang with some buddies!!! Join groups!

Hang with girls who are POSITIVE, CREATIVE, KIND and STRONG!

But beware: surround yourself with women who do not judge their bodies,are overly competitive, perfectionist, and media obsessed; that canfeed into high body dissatisfaction.

I know we all fall somewhere on the dimension of self-obsession fromtime-to-time (hey, it’s the nature of the disease), but when we canget ‘out of self’ and with others we are less likely to view ourselveson appearance alone. As women, we are relational creatures and we cancreate a good deal of self-esteem from our interactions with othersand our relationships. I guess that idea of ‘feeling a part of’ iscritical to our happiness. Why do you think so many of us need ourdaily dose of 12 step meetings?We can “feel a part of” and create positive media with RewriteBeautiful Street Art. Give rise to your own Rewrite Beautiful StreetArt somewhere noticeable in your community, take a picture of it, andsend it to us via e-mail atRewriteBeautiful@gmail.com